Schools are being given new powers to impose “no notice” detentions as part of
a Government drive to restore order to the classroom.

Teachers will be able to keep unruly pupils behind at the end of the school day without warning after ministers scrapped the existing 24-hour notice period for parents.

The Government insisted the rules – being introduced from today – would make children more accountable for their bad behaviour.

It is among a series of Coalition reforms enshrined in the Education Act 2011 designed to crack down on classroom indiscipline. This includes increased powers to search pupils for banned items, granting teachers anonymity when accused of assault and giving heads the final say on expulsions.

It comes amid fears that the balance of power in schools has swung too far towards pupils in recent years.

Almost 1,000 children are suspended from school for abuse and assault every day and two-thirds of teachers admit bad behaviour is driving professionals out of the classroom.

Charlie Taylor, head of a London special school and the Government’s expert adviser on behaviour, said that without proper discipline “teachers can’t teach and pupils can’t learn”.

“Teachers need to have the right powers at their disposal to use if they wish,” he said.

“From my experience as a head teacher, I know that the closer the punishment is to the ‘crime’, the more effective it is.

“That’s why teachers will welcome the removal of this daft rule so that as professionals, they can make the decision about what works best.”

Under previous legislation, teachers can keep children in class over lunch without any notice but parents must have 24 hours’ warning for all detentions outside school hours.

Labour said the notice period was needed to “inform parents of where their child is expected to be, and to allow parents an opportunity to make alternative arrangements for travel for the child”.

But Nick Gibb, the Schools Minister, said that teachers’ needs to impose discipline should take priority over parental concerns to ensure children are held to account for their behaviour.

“We know that the majority of pupils are well-behaved and want others to behave well too,” he said.

“The role of the Government is to give schools the freedom and support they need to provide a safe and structured environment in which teachers can teach and children can learn.”

Changes to rules surrounding detentions are enshrined in the Education Act, which was granted Royal Assent in November.

Other new powers granted by the Act will be devolved to schools in coming months.

This includes giving teachers the freedom to frisk pupils’ clothing or bags for any item that can be used to cause disruption in the classroom, such as mobile phones, iPods, iPads, MP3 players and other electronic gadgets. It extents schools’ current right to search for weapons, drugs, alcohol and stolen goods.

Teachers will also be granted anonymity when accused of assault by pupils in an attempt to prevent children making malicious allegations.

In further changes, independent appeals panels will be barred from over-turning a head teachers’ decision to expel unruly pupils. It comes amid fears that heads’ authority was being undermined by panels that can force badly behaved children back into school after being permanently barred.